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I finally got a chance to try out the lovely 4.2 qt Dutch oven that Emile Henry sent me on the Big Green Egg. For its maiden voyage, I decided to try a batch of carnitas. To make these tender, … Continue reading
Just one big unsolicited plug here for Dizzy Pig Barbecue Company. Over the years I have had nothing but good luck and tasty results using their barbecue rubs and it’s about time I told everybody out there how good they are.
Dizzy Dust is my “go-to” rub for ribs and butts.
Raging River is a huge hit on salmon.
Spicy Swamp Venom is great on wings.
Shaking the Tree is a better-than-lemon-pepper rub for chicken and pork.
Red Eye Express, Raising the Steaks, and Cowlick are all in my rotation for steak and burger seasoning.
Jamaican Firewalk is the jerk king, mon.
Pineapple Head rocks on sweet potatoes.
They have a new newsletter out this month and they’re in the running for About.com’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Award for Barbecue Rub (vote early and vote often). They’ve also just moved into a new production facility and have great plans in the works.
Thanks to Chris and the gang for producing some of the best fresh, hand-blended rubs out there!
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The fine folks at Emile Henry have been kind enough to send me some of their new Flame-Top clay cookware to try out. While they have been making cookware in Burgundy, France since 1850, this is their first line of flameproof … Continue reading
I take my hot sauces pretty seriously and have amassed a respectable collection, limited only by my dear wife’s desire to have room in the fridge for actual food and my desire to remain happily married.
In their application, I tend to take the terroir approach – sauces from a given region goes best with foods from that region. So Louisiana-style sauces (Crystal, Frank’s, Trappey’s) go with southern cooking like jambalaya or biscuits and gravy, and Mexican sauces (Cholula, Valentina, Búfalo) go with tacos, enchiladas, etc… I do a little mixy matchy (Valentina with a little mayo is killer on sushi), but have yet to find a single hot sauce that really works to compliment a wide variety of foods.
That said – I take my hat off to Suck Creek WFR Hot Sauce.
The Verdict: 
This sauce complements everything I’ve tried it on. So far, I’ve had it on eggs, in my cherished biscuits and gravy, and as a way to brighten up some beef stew. I’ve used it to add some heat to my wing sauce, tacos, and ranch dressing. It has a nice, tangy base of warmth that’s wrapped with black pepper and herbs, and then finished off with a straight up habanero heat. It’s not as vinegary as Crystal, nor as hot as Marie Sharp’s. The heat is considerable, but not overwhelming. It does, however, build and linger for a while. It may be a bit much for some folks, but’s that’s their own fault. I can see it as my “go-to” heat source for barbecue sauces and marinades.
The versatility of the sauce means that a bottle of WFR now sits on our dining table right next to the salt and pepper. My only wish is that it came in a bigger bottle 
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This is another rub courtesy of Fred’s Music & BBQ Supply. Fred helpfully included some recipes and suggestions to use as a starting point. His salmon recipe looks like a real winner.
1 salmon fillet (Alaskan wild in this case)
1-2 teaspoons of Signore Bernardo’s Salmon Seasoning
Olive oil
Use a food-grade plank that’s been soaked in water for at least an hour. Set your grill up for a direct cook over medium-high heat (about 400°F).
Oil both sides of the salmon and season with Signore Bernardo’s Salmon Seasoning.
Put the plank on the grill by itself for about 5 minutes, just until you can smell the smoke coming off the plank. Put the salmon on the plank, close the lid, and let it cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the fish hits 130°F internal and the flesh just starts to flake.
The plank almost wasn't wide enough for this lovely fillet.
Serve hot off the grill. If you’re being fancy schmancy, cover a serving platter with a bed of damp lettuce leaves and set the plank (with the fillet still on it) on the platter. The lettuce makes sure the plank is extinguished and serving off the plank makes for a nice presentation.
The Verdict:
When Fred sent this rub to me he said that it was “something special” and I have to agree with him. I’m a big salmon fan, and I really don’t like to overwhelm its natural flavor too much. Fred’s salmon seasoning does a great job of accenting without covering anything up. The garlic and black pepper in the rub are nicely balanced with sugar and citrus. You taste the salmon, but you also taste all of these other flavors at the same time. Outstanding rub!
Fred, of Fred’s Music & BBQ Supply, was kind enough to send me some of his Tasty Licks rubs for me to try out. Since I was dying for wings (when am I not dying for wings?) I decided to try a batch with his Original Rub.
I usually cook wings in the medium-high range (350°F or so) without any added wood smoke, but this time I decided to slow smoke them for a couple of hours over apple wood before cranking the heat up to crisp the skin.
6 fresh chicken wings
Olive oil
1-2 tablespoons Tasty Licks BBQ Company “Original” All Purpose BBQ Rub and Seasoning
In medium bowl, lightly coat wings with olive oil. Dust the wings with some of the rub and give them a toss. Dust and toss again, making sure that all of the wings are covered with the rub.
Set a cooling rack on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. Lay wings out on a rack and let them sit uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
Set the grill up for an indirect cook at 250°. Once the grill is up to temperature, add your smoking wood and arrange the wings on the grate top side up. Close the lid and smoke for an hour. Flip the wings and smoke for another hour. Now bump the heat up to 350°F and cook for 15 minutes. Flip the wings and cook for another 15, or until they are brown and crispy.
Serve them hot off the grill with some Horseradish Mustard Sauce for dipping.
The Verdict:
This is a great rub! I tasted it right out of the bottle and it was a lovely blend of heat and sweetness. You could really taste the chili powder, but it wasn’t overwhelming – kind of a nice, long, low burn. The sugar and salt hit you right up front and really helped balance the spice in the rub.
The wings were very tasty done low and slow. The skin stayed crisp while the meat was melty and tender. I loved the smoky flavor and the rub really complemented that. You could call them barbecue wings, but not in that just-slap-a-sauce-on-them kind of way. They had that true barbecue taste that you can only get from the blending of spices and smoke over low heat.
Thanks for sharing, Fred!
General Mills is jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon by adding gluten-free Bisquick to its product lineup. I’m very excited about this for two big reasons:
The first thing I wanted to try making with the GF Bisquick is my favorite recipe that I used to make with the original Bisquick - biscuits. I even broke out Grandma R’s dough blender to do the job.
2 cups Bisquick Gluten-Free mix
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
3 eggs
Heat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, combine Bisquick mix and butter. Cut in the butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and eggs until a soft dough forms.
Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
I served these right out of the oven, topped with butter and honey
The Verdict: 
Fair warning – I am not a baker, that’s my dear wife’s specialty. Even so, the biscuits turned out crispy on the outside and fairly tender on the inside. The dough was heavy and the biscuits ended up being a little dense. They weren’t the flaky bits of perfection that my grandmother used to make, but they were as good as any box mix biscuit I’ve ever made. Taste wise, I couldn’t tell they were gluten free, and that’s a huge plus.